The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1887-11-05
UNCLE SANS ARMY,
what IL Required OF Young Men DESTROYS
of Enllsting In It.


What Is Required of Young Men DESTROYS
OF Enllsting In 1t.
"Then what few men are ont Of en-
ployment and want to go into Uncle
Sans service are most of them not up
to the Standard" said Lieutenant Gu
sick. who is in charge of the recruiting
Office recently moved to Portland from
Pittsburgh. Penn. 1t is the first
opened in Maine for \ great many
years. perhaps the first since the days
OF the war. The Lieutenant continued:
THE United States army wants
1900 men Mt once TO bring its strength
up to the rs. 900 required by the act Of
Congress. So far we have had but 81
applications in Portland. and only three
Of them have been acceptable. OF the
other 10 there was one out or another
that compelled us to reject them Fully
two-thirds Of them had defective eyes
One eye was not so good rs the other.
In the army a man must have good
eyes that he may become = good marks
man. and that he may be able to dis
tinguish different objects. One eye
should be as good as the other so that
in case of temporary injury to an eye
the efficiency Of the soldier may not be
impaired. Dissipated habits. too much
rum and tobacco, are common causes
OF these weaknesses Of the eyes. In
many cases defects of vision have been
produced by blows.
Then ~ chest measurements and
weight we find frequent reasons for re-
jecting applicants, especially in the
fall of the year. The hard work Of sum-
mer reduces the weight and the girth Of
the chest. We have regular system Of
measurements. and it will not do to de-
part from standard in single partic-
ular. For the infantry service we take
none below 5 feet 4 inches in height,
and none over feet 8 inches For
the cavalry s feet inches to 5 feet 10
inches are the limits. We don't have
any tall cavalrymen because they are
liable to get too heavy. Light tough
men are wanted for the service. Now
for the shortest infantrymen, feet 4
inches, we require that he shall have .
weight of 1923 pounds. chest meas
urement Of "a inches. with the ability to
expand his chest 2 inches by drawing
in full breath. Then these require
ments Of weight and chest measure
ment are higher for taller men. A
man feet inches tall must weigh 141
pounds at least, measure 34A around
the chest, and have a chest expansion
of 81 inches; for feet 10 inches the
required minimum is 1856 pounds for
weight. 352 inches chest and ~ ex-
pansion; for feet the weight is 169,
the chest measurement 364, expansion
81. You see, it does not necessarily
follow that man must be an athlete
to join the army, as the tables to which
the professors of physical culture train
their pupils to have a standard of chest
measurement somewhere near 40 inches
for man 6 feet tall. But we want
good average. well-built and healthy
men. without any defects physically.
So far we have secured three out Of
every twenty applicants. But l don I
think this small proportion is any sign
that the vigor of the youth Of Maine is
departing. For many reasons the men
who apply are not fair samples.
Are the inducements offered by the
service such as to attract the most am
bilious young men?" asked the re-
porter.
well. you can Judge for yourself.
The soldier gets $13 month with his
board and clothes. He enlists for five
years. and must stay in the service till
his term expires, unless he can get the
Secretary Of War to allow his dis
charge. BY good behavior he gets an
increase Of 81 month during the third
year Of service. 81 during the fourth
and s. during the fifth. II he Is pro-
NOTED he gets further additions to his
pay. He may become a corporal. a
sergeant. a ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, a
auartermaster or a commissary; he
may even go higher, and by passing
an examination before board Of Off
| GERS get certified for an examination NJ
! Fort Monroe. Va. II he passes at the
| lOEt Nc may tuch oOSoiAO - SSAAsi'"
stoned officer. starting as Second
Lieutenant
"Do many avail themselves Of the
opportunity"
'.Thc young men who graduate al
West Point have the first chance, and
Of late they have filed all the vacant
commissions. Practically very few
men rise in the army from the ranks te
commission. Adjutant Genera
Drum, however. is one who did. | am
not graduate of West point myself
but served as an officer Of volunteer:
during the war, and was then trans
ferred to the regular army as COM
missioned officer So had an oppor
tunity better than falls to the young
man who enters the army now in any
other way than through West Point.
Yet there are some promotions even
now. The commissions Of the army
are also open to civilians, though this
is not generally known. After the
West point graduates have got places.
and the promotions from the rank Of
non-commissioned officers have beer
made, any vacancies left (there are
rarely any. however) are open to civil
ians who can pass the examinations
required. Portland me. Press
| nL..:-~l nL..or~anoa